Israeli Army and Hamas Continue Exchanging Fire; Egypt's Hope to Negotiate Talks Between Hamas and Israel; Impact of Soldier's Death on IDF Actions; American Ebola Patient Enters U.S. Hospital; Ohio Water Crisis

Aired August 3, 2014 - 06:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: All right, 6:00 on a Sunday morning and we are as always so grateful to have you with us. I'm Christi Paul.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Miguel Marquez. It is NEW DAY SUNDAY. Thanks for joining us.

PAUL: We want to begin this morning with the new overnight developments in the conflict between Israel and Gaza.

MARQUEZ: Israeli military now says the soldier reportedly captured and killed by Hamas was, in fact, not kidnapped instead killed during a blast by a suicide bomber in a Gaza tunnel. Hamas counters that claim saying it believes he died in an Israeli air strike.

PAUL: We're going to have more on that coming up.

But we do want to get caught up on what else we know this morning. We know that Israel is moving forward with its pursuit of targets inside Gaza. The IDF saying at least 200 terror targets have been hit since the cease-fire was broken and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu added yesterday, Israel will continue to defend itself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Today it threatened Israel. Tomorrow it will threaten your countries. We'll do what we are required to do to halt these aggressions by the terrorist organization against our citizens, our soldiers. What will you do?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: Now that protection Israel wants comes at a very big price for Palestinian. Gaza officials say 44 people have died in the last several hours bringing the death toll to more than 1,700 since the conflict began.

PAUL: We've also learned this morning of a shelling incident in the vicinity of a U.N. agency run shelter in the town of Rafah. We'll keep you updated on those details as soon as we learn more. We did talk to Chris Gunness earlier. He was saying that in his estimation, there have been injuries and deaths and at least 3,000 people have been housed in that school.

PAUL: Now the leader of Hamas calls Israel's actions, quote, "an aggression that thwarted any chance of a truce." Now reports today that Palestinian representatives including those from Hamas will meet in Cairo for cease-fire talks.

PAUL: That meeting comes as Palestinian officials warn that the lack of water, sanitation and health care could lead to a public health disaster. CNN's John Vause is in Gaza City. John, what evidence are you seeing of that?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is plenty of it everywhere you look, Christi. This is now day 27 of Israel's military offensive on Gaza, and Israeli artillery and tanks continue to target a number of areas here in Gaza City including a marketplace which is crowded. That happened a couple of hours ago.

There are reports that the city of Rafah in the southern part of Gaza is under heavy fire both from artillery possibly from air strikes. A third day there. More than 100 people were killed there on Friday. According to Palestinian officials, more than 100 people were killed there on Saturday.

We don't know the death toll at this stage. As you mentioned that humanitarian crisis continues to escalate. According to the United Nations more than 10,000 homes are being destroyed. More than 400,000 Palestinians have been displaced about a quarter of the population.

There's a shortage of clean drinking water. We have been without electricity for six days now and the U.N. is fearful that there could soon be a mass outbreak of disease. And despite this military offensive here in Gaza the longest that Israel has ever waged against militants in Gaza, Hamas is defiant, continuing to fire those rockets from Gaza into Israel.

Now, the Israeli forces have been redeploying especially in the north, tanks and troops and other personnel carriers moving back towards the Israeli border, an indication that they are now winding down their ground operation that perhaps they have found and destroyed those tunnels that Hamas had built from Gaza into Israel.

Sara Sidner is live just across the border from here in Israel. So Sara, what is the scene there? What have you seen over the last couple of hours?

SARA SIDNER, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We know that there have been at least 13 rockets according to the IDF fired towards Israel. Many of them, though, falling short only one being taken out by the iron dome anti-missile battery one of which is behind me over my left shoulder on the Israel-Gaza border.

What we heard from the prime minister and the defense minister late last night is something significant. It sounds as if they are saying look we're close to completing our mission, but we're continuing the fight to get rid of those tunnels. We know that some of these soldiers will be taken away and redeployed, if you will, to other areas. They've also said that southeast residents of Gaza can go back to certain areas of Gaza where their soldiers are pulling back. But by no means is the fight over.

They said that over and over again. That the army will decide when the mission is complete and then they will talk again about what to do next. We do know there are discussions going on between the Palestinians in care jobs a delegation there trying to figure out what to do but Israel not involved with that.

Hamas as said no to even a peace or quiet for quiet scenario not necessarily a full cease-fire, but a quiet for quiet scenario, a lot of questions about that with so many civilians being killed on that side of the border.

We also know there's a funeral today for the Israeli soldier being held, all of Israel invited to the funeral by the family after the IDF said he was, indeed killed and perhaps not captured, but killed during that initial suicide bomber blast as his group was inside Gaza trying to root out those tunnel, very dangerous work.

We've been in hospitals as well, John, seeing the soldiers, the injuries being sustained from the Israeli side, you know, amputations. There are lots of shrapnel injuries and family worried about their soldiers, 64 soldiers have been killed since the start of this now in week four still three civilians.

So a total of 67 people on the Israeli side of the border have been affected by all of this -- John.

VAUSE: Sara, last night when we listened to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he did say that Israeli troops would stay around that area. Didn't put a time frame on that.

The concern to many Palestinians who live in Gaza that could be the start of Israel establishing some kind of permanent or at least semi- permanent security buffer along the border between Israel and Gaza.

Have you seen any indications that the Israeli troops may be digging in for some kind of a long term presence?

SIDNER: They haven't said that and we're not seeing necessarily evidence of that. But certainly it's something to watch. I think it's something we'll hear more about and then from Hamas' side they said time and again if you're in our territory expect to have a fight, expect to be targeted.

And so I think what everyone is doing on both sides is kind of waiting and watching to see where this particular offensive is going to go and how long it's going to last.

This has lasted much longer than some of the previous wars with Hamas and Gaza. The end game there's a big question mark as to what that will look like and exactly when that is going to be -- John. VAUSE: And despite this military offensive by Israel, which the length and intensity of it has surprised so many people, Hamas is still dug in. They still have rockets. They still have rocket launchers. They still continue to fire those rockets as you say 13 in the last few hours alone. Is there any surprise there on your side that Hamas still has this ability?

SIDNER: No. I think what we've heard a lot from the Israeli military is that Hamas has thousands upon thousands of rockets, thousands upon thousands of munitions there inside Gaza. And what they have wanted to do as part of their mission to de-militarize Gaza is to knock that number way, way down.

So perhaps they only have hundreds, for example. They believe they got rid of 50 percent of what Hamas has there inside of Gaza. The people on this side of the border, of course, tired of hearing the siren, tired of worrying about the rockets falling here in the neighborhoods, which they have done.

The iron dome works but it hasn't taken them all out. We know that just last night a 70-year-old man was outside in his neighborhood on the southern border and he was hit and is in very dire condition in the hospital.

So, people here still very cognizant that the danger is still there and the Israeli public when asked, Israeli Jews basically said 95 percent of us. We want this to continue because we want them to finish Hamas off finally -- John.

VAUSE: OK. Sara, thank you for that. Sara Sidner reporting live for us. Christie and Miguel, this was meant to be the third day of a three-day cease-fire. It didn't last 90 minutes. And in those three days, we meant to have those negotiations in Cairo to find some kind of long term solution to stop the bloodshed.

What is interesting is those negotiations are still going on, the Palestinians are there, but the Israelis haven't turned up, which I guess is an indication that Israel is determined to end this conflict on its own terms.

MARQUEZ: Yes, there does seem to be a lot of different messages out of Israel that they are not attending those peace conferences, Netanyahu went on air we made great progress, but we reserve the right to continue to fight.

You're seeing ground movements there. Is it your sense that they are not pulling out, perhaps, but repositioning their forces in order to move on a different part of Gaza at the moment?

VAUSE: Yes, that's pretty much what's happening right now. With all those Israeli troops deep inside Gaza looking for those tunnels, the engineers who are setting the charges and trying to blow those charges and destroy them they were prime targets for Hamas fighters.

As far as the Israeli military is concerned once that mission is done they want to get them out of the firing line as fast as important, get them to relative safety closer to the Israeli border. As we heard from Benjamin Netanyahu those soldiers will there and be redeployed and used as the military sees fit.

They are determined to sort of bring this situation to an end with Hamas having the ability not to fire these rockets, but to pop up from Gaza into Israel and carry out these attacks. It seems we're now into a new phase and the Israeli prime minister said that last night that this is not going to be over for a while.

PAUL: All right, John Vause live for us live in Gaza. Thank you to Sara Sidner as well. Both of you please stay safe and thanks again.

MARQUEZ: The American doctor infected with the Ebola virus is back in the U.S., but it's how he got to the hospital that is surprising.

PAUL: Nearly half a million people in one major American city are facing huge water crisis this morning. Their own tap water could be toxic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: An American doctor infected with the deadly Ebola virus is fighting for his life on U.S. soil this morning.

MARQUEZ: Dr. Ken Brantly becomes the first known Ebola patient ever to be treated in the states for the infectious virus.

PAUL: Brantly who contracted the virus while treating patients in Liberia landed in Georgia yesterday and upon landing, the 33-year-old was rushed to Emory Hospital in Atlanta for his continued treatment.

MARQUEZ: This is the part that everybody is a little shocked at and is really kind of amazing. Video from Emory shows someone presumably Brantly wearing a full-body protective suit getting gingerly out of that ambulance. He was placed in isolation upon his arrival.

PAUL: According to a family representative, Brantly's wife was able to visit him for about 45 minutes. That couple was separated by a glass wall. Brantly is described as being in great spirits and quote, "so grateful." I think a lot of people were just grateful to see him walking yesterday.

MARQUEZ: It's amazing. Who thought? You thought he would have been on a stretcher. Transporting Brantly from Liberia to the U.S. wasn't easy. The 6,000 mile trip took more than 14 hours in the air to complete. Take a look at the plane. It was equipped with a hi-tech isolation pod designed to handle infectious diseases.

MARQUEZ: The transfer from the tarmac to the hospital required coordination between the State Department, the CDC and Emory, very, very high levels. Yesterday, CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta spoke to members of that transport team.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Simply getting the patient, Dr. Kent Brantly from Point A to Point B, from the Air Force base to the hospital here required a lot of planning, State Department, CDC, the hospital itself.

The two gentlemen you're about to meet said they have been planning for this day for 12 years. Any reservations by any members. You probably heard some of the reports from citizens. They are concerned about this just because all they hear about Ebola what's happening in West Africa.

WADE MILES, DISTRICT MANAGER FOR BRADY EMS: I have no reserves. Totally comfortable with it. This is what we do and train for and it's perfectly safe.

GUPTA: When you heard about this first, did you have any expectations of what Dr. Brantly, what his condition would be like when he arrived in the United States?

MILES: No. We've been getting reports here and there, and with this disease process, this virus, patients can be in a lot of different conditions. So the condition he's in is, you know, what we expected because it's what we've been hearing.

GUPTA: We heard from Samaritan's Purse that he was in serious condition but stable. We saw him walking off of the ambulance and we heard he took a shower in Liberia before he got on the plane. Does that surprise you?

MILES: No, sir.

GUPTA: Given that he deteriorated earlier in the week, that doesn't surprise you given the seriousness of his condition?

MILES: No.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: What a job they have. Those transport teams will have the full process to do over again this week. The same plane that carried Brantly to the states is flying back to Liberia now to pick up fellow missionary, Nancy Writebol, who has also been infected and will also be treated at Emory.

Four hundred thousand people in one city are being told don't drink the water, don't even shower, don't even boil the water.

MARQUEZ: That's trouble. What's in the water that could make them sick? We'll have that story coming up in a bit. Shocking.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: So how is the coffee going down this morning? Maybe you're making breakfast. Imagine all of the folks in one area this morning who are waking up and being told you cannot drink your water.

MARQUEZ: Half a million people in Northwest Ohio are being warned not to do anything with their tap water. PAUL: Not even boil it. The advisories come after a dangerous toxin was discovered in a local water treatment plant leading the governor to declare a state of emergency across the state. Now even the National Guard has been called in to help bring safe water.

Joining us now on the phone for the latest is Dex Stanger. He is the acting public information officer in Toledo. Dex, thank you for being with us. I have to ask, first of all, what is this toxin?

DEX STANGER, ACTING PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, TOLEDO (via telephone): It's a toxin created by algae that's grown in the western region of Erie.

PAUL: So this is coming from the lake. Why is it so detrimental that you can't even boil the water to get rid of it? Boiling usually a process allotted to people.

STANGER: It's some sort of bacterial organism that boiling would kill it. We're worried about the chemical. Boiling it all that would do is concentrate the toxin in the water. It would take away the rest of the water and just concentrate that toxin. Boiling won't kill anything.

MARQUEZ: Is this an ongoing issue? Is this something you've dealt with before? Why now, why so many people and when do you expect the ban to be lifted?

STANGER: The testing is an ongoing process. We're continuing sending samples down to different places to be tested. As far as I know it's never been, the toxin level has never been this high. As far as when it will be lifted it's an ongoing process and we should have more information.

PAUL: We've been seeing all this video of people taking bottled water and gallons of water out and wondering how stock and supplied some of these stores are. How are they getting some safe water today?

STANGER: As far as commercial stores, a lot of the big box stores have been bringing shipments in and brought trucks in overnight and all through the day restocking their shelves. Also citizens have the ability to -- we have nine water distribution sites that they can come to if they bring their own containers and we'll have water for them.

MARQUEZ: You guys say, or suggesting don't even take a shower. Why is this so dangerous? Is it just a tiny bit that can make one ill?

STANGER: That's only if you're sick or if you're somehow immune- compromised. All healthy adults can bathe and be safe.

PAUL: OK, real quickly, what symptoms would they have if for some reason this affected them? Do we know?

PAUL: OK. All right. Dex Stanger, thank you. MARQUEZ: Thank you very much. You guys getting as much water out there as possible and hopefully this will be over soon. He's with the county emergency management in Toledo. Thank you.

Hamas officials have landed in Cairo ready to negotiate, but if no one from Israel is there to talk how effective can those negotiations be?

PAUL: We'll take live to Egypt as the negotiations move forward.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Well, I hope the breakfast is a good one this morning as we're at the bottom of the hour. I'm Christi Paul.

MARQUEZ: And I'm Miguel Marquez. Here are the five things you need to know for your new day.

PAUL: Number one, Hollywood and America's Camelot came together Saturday -- yesterday, of course, when Robert Kennedy Jr. married actress Cheryl Hines. The wedding took place at the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. The groom was late president's nephew and son of former Attorney General Robert Kennedy.

MARQUEZ: Number two, Instagram celebrity grandma Betty died this weekend. She had lung cancer. In recent months the 80-year-old whose real name is Betty Jo Simpson became an inspiration to people around the world. Her legend began around the time of her cancer diagnosis when her great-grandson decided to document the remainder of her life. As of Saturday evening she had nearly 700,000 Instagram followers.

PAUL: Number three, police shot and killed a suspect who opened fire last night at a casino in eastern Arizona. Officials say the unnamed suspect shot through the doors of the Hon-Dah Casino. At least four people we know were hurt. One victim was shot in the hand. Another in the abdomen. That motive is under investigation now.

MARQUEZ: Number four, a U.S. Air Force spy plane similar to this one evaded an encounter with the Russian military a day after Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down. A U.S. military official tells CNN the plane was conducting electronic eavesdropping on the Russian military when Russians began tracking it with ground radar and sent at least one fighter to intercept it. The plane managed to fly into Swedish airspace, though, without permission.

PAUL: Number five Dr. Kent Brantly, the American doctor who contracted the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa is back on U.S. soil this morning. He's landed in Georgia yesterday and was quickly rushed to an Atlanta hospital where he was placed in isolation. You see him walking there, which surprised a lot of people, but his fellow missionary Nancy Writebol, who also tested positive for the virus is expected to arrive in the U.S. for treatment early this week as well.

MARQUEZ: Now, a spokesman for the Israeli military says there's no end in sight to a mission to destroy Hamas tunnels as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Hamas abilities have been severely damaged. PAUL: But Hamas is showing no sign of backing down. The group's

leader telling CNN Palestinians have a right to self-defense and to deal with what he calls quote "invading Israeli forces." CNN's John Vause is in Gaza City. What have you seen though this morning, John?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christi and Miguel. Well, we know that the Israeli tank fire and the artillery fire has continued here fairly regular pace. And in fact, just a short time ago, maybe about a couple of hours ago where we're standing right now what seemed to be an Israeli tank round came very close. (INAUDIBLE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: Carl if you could tell us just about the situation on the ground there.

(ARTILLERY SOUNDS)

MARQUEZ: And we hear that behind you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, exactly, let me just take a camera over there. Building probably about a kilometer away from where we are now that's Israeli shelling we believe going into there. There has been more shelling. A little bit for the south of where we are as well, just in the last few moments. It's unclear what the targets are. That building has been targeted in the past which is what they call a knock on the roof, a warning shot. We're not sure what target may be beyond that. We have in past days and weeks seen ...

VAUSE: As you can see there, my colleague Karl Penhaul was on the air speaking with CNN international. Karl is with us now. OK, so, you -- to go live, you were live, and that -- what we think was a tank round came in. Just describe exactly what happened.

PENHAUL: Yes, and another sign, John, that this fight is still very much on and just we are preparing to go to air the sound of artillery going off and about ten rounds over the space of about five minutes fell on that building that's about three quarters of a mile from where we are and then over on the horizon we clearly saw the flash of the barrel of what appeared to be a tank.

VAUSE: And what we should say is that that was, you know, one hit close to us. There have been thousands of artillery rounds fired over the course of the last 25 days.

PENHAUL: Yeah, exactly. Whatever we've seen and reacted close to us is just a tiny sample of what's been going on, you and I have seen areas, whole neighborhoods being absolutely leveled in this with disastrous consequences.

VAUSE: And what is interesting is that despite that intensive Israeli military campaign, we saw Palestinians last night, though, gathering around televisions, wherever they could find electricity, for already -- to listen to that statement from the Israeli prime minister saying this is not over, it is going to continue. And their reaction was interesting, they were just - bring it on.

PENHAUL: Exactly. I mean you've got to remember we can't understate this enough that 75 percent of these casualties according to the United Nations have been civilians both the deaths and the injuries. And so for them to stand their ground and say we paid a price in blood already, let's carry on this time. But, of course, they are main players that they don't want to carry on and simply think to go back to the way that were a month ago.

PENHAUL: They want something to show for it. They want -- and the longer this goes on the more determined they are to get something to show for all of the bloodshed and the destruction, right?

PENHAUL: Exactly. They say let this be the price. Let it be a high price for -- let it be the price for finally getting better living conditions here in Gaza. That means open borders, better influx of goods and services.

VAUSE: And I think something that a lot of people don't understand is why there's not a lot of -- a lot more criticism out there of Hamas. I think a lot of people make the calculation if Hamas stopped firing the rockets Israel would stop with the air strikes and the artillery, the bloodshed would stop. So, why aren't these people rising up in the streets? They have no electricity and they don't have clean drinking water. And clearly, that does seem to be, you know, part of the Israeli calculation here that they are hoping because they keep telling the Palestinians here you are being targeted because of Hamas, but that isn't working.

PENHAUL: Absolutely. It must be part of Israel's calculation. This is really counter insurgency 101. It's the kind of tactics we've seen since Vietnam, since Iraq as well. That the military force has to try and split the population from a guerilla force. And what has happened, Hamas is, we well know, is not necessarily that popular in peace time because of its radical orthodox political and military style, its religious style as well. But in times of war what we've seen at least, is this people seem to be galvanized, galvanizing against a common enemy, that's the Israelis. And there's although it has to be said, although it might be unpopular to say that there's an admiration for these militant fighters who are taking the fight to Israel and dying, but still some kind of gratitude from the civilian population.

VAUSE: Yeah, there's a big difference between the political wing of Hamas and the military wing of Hamas. And it seems that the military wing, the al Qassam Brigades, or the resistance as they call them here are almost beyond criticism.

PENHAUL: Right now. And really, that is part of the structure that we heard as this war was getting under way. The military wings of all these militant factions turned around and said in times of war it's clearly the military structure that has the leadership role, has the first and last word. VAUSE: And as we've been speaking we began to actually see some smoke

rising in the distance. I think we have another angle of that yet again.

VAUSE: No. (INAUDIBLE), which is -- Jabaliya is another refugee camp, which is also being hit. So, as we can see, this continues here. The Israelis even though they say they are moving into this new phase, new phase looking a lot like the old phase, at least as far as the 1.7 million Palestinians who live in Gaza, clearly they want an end to this, but, you know, Israel wants an end on their terms and, Miguel, the Palestinians want an end on their terms as well.

MARQUEZ: Yeah. Those pictures that we're looking at are pretty stunning. It's very, very dark smoke. We can see flames coming out of the left side of whatever that is. Whatever has been hit. It may be some sort of fuel depot or something is burning extraordinarily heavily there. Do you guys have - we'll, we are going to come back to you in a moment and perhaps we can talk a little bit more about that.

VAUSE: What's going on?

MARQUEZ: And about what exactly that is burning over there.

PAUL: Yeah, we'll figure it out and we'll get back to you. John, thank you so much. Karl, thank you as well. Stay safe to both of you.

MARQUEZ: Now, he was a success story in CNN's series "Chicagoland."

PAUL: Now, Chicago newspapers this morning reporting 20-year-old Lee McCullum Jr. was shot on the city's south side. We'll have the latest on his condition and what happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back to CNN "NEW DAY." I'm John Vause reporting live from Gaza City where this Israeli offensive continues despite what the Israel prime minister said was a redeployment a new phase, it looks a lot like the old phase. Israeli tanks and artillery fire continues to hit a number of targets including one on the outskirts of Gaza City just a short time ago. There was meant to be negotiations under way on this day in Cairo between the Israelis and the Palestinians but that three day ceasefire unraveled almost as soon as it began. But nonetheless Cairo is still holding those talks. We understand the Palestinian delegation is there. And so too is our Reza Sayah. He is live for us this morning in Cairo. And so, Reza, the Palestinians are there, the Israelis are not. What do they plan to talk about?

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, obviously, if you have the Palestinians here, John, and you don't have the Israelis that's not a scenario that's enough for peace talks, a cease-fire talks. However, in a conflict where a lot of people are dying, in a conflict where much of the world is looking for any reason, any sign to be hopeful that the fighting is going to end, that these two sides are going to sit down eventually and talk, perhaps this is a sign that we're inching towards some sort of negotiations. However that's impossible to say at this point.

But we can report that the Palestinians have sent a second delegation, a second negotiation team here to Cairo. This particular team represents the Hamas movement. Of course, last night state media reporting that the first delegation representing the Fatah movement and members of the Palestinian intelligence agencies, they arrived in Cairo traveling through Jordan. Of course, if you are going to negotiate you are going to need a counterpart, and in this case that would be the Israelis. But Israel has made it clear that at this point, they are not prepared to send a team to Cairo for talks. Last night, of course, many people here in Egypt eagerly watching the speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looking for any suggestion by him that they are even considering a ceasefire, that considering truce talks. Of course, that didn't happen, John.

So pretty much we're in a waiting pattern here in Egypt. Again, much of the world is looking for these two sides to figure out a way, for someone to figure out a way to get these two sides to come to Cairo, sit down and talk and end the fighting. The Palestinians are here. That seems to suggest they are prepared to consider sitting down and talking. The Israelis are not, John, at this point.

VAUSE: Reza, isn't one of the problems now that Hamas delegation isn't actually from Gaza. It's the -- the Diaspora Hamas leaders if you like, the ones who are in exile in various countries, be it Qatar or Jordan. And so, while there was originally meant to be a delegation coming specifically from Gaza the leaders here because the ceasefire unraveled they cannot travel there.

SAYAH: This is a complicated conflict and one of the complications, it's what you mentioned. The leaders of Hamas coming from Qatar, even so they are and present -- they will be presenting themselves as representatives of the Palestinians in Gaza. And another complicating factor is Egypt's role in this particular mediation, if, indeed, it happens. As you know the relationship between Cairo and Hamas has deteriorated greatly since November 2012. That's the last time Hamas fought Israel.

Back then it was the Muslim Brotherhood leader who was president, Mohamed Morsi, close ties with Hamas, but a year later, you have Abdul Fattah al-Sisi the president. This is a man who ousted former president Mohamed Morsi and declared both of Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas terrorist organizations. So, that certainly will not help when it comes to the role of Egypt as a mediator. Will they play the role of mediator or will they simply host this event. It's not clear at this point, John.

VAUSE: OK, Reza, thank you. Reza Sayah live in Cairo. So, Miguel and Christi, negotiations in Cairo just with the problem that there is no one there from Israel and no one there from Gaza. It seems like a bit of a circus.

MARQUEZ: Well those situations always very murky and difficult to understand and there's oftentimes back doors, other rooms and we know that these negotiations are never very straightforward. This would -- may be more complicated than we've ever seen.

PAUL: John Vause live for us in Gaza. John we appreciate it. Stay safe and thank you, both you and your crew.

Chicago violence this summer, boy that has been relentless, hasn't it? So many of the victims, we know, aren't recognized the way that they should be.

MARQUEZ: But one of the latest victims has a special relationship with us, with CNN and our viewers may recognize him and who he is.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Lee McColumm, a former high school student featured in the CNN series "Chicagoland" was shot and wounded this weekend.

This is according to the "Chicago Tribune" and "The Sun Times."

MARQUEZ: In the original series the 20-year-old had spoken about wanting to turn his life around.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE MCCOLUMM: My two worries in life are not making it and being unsuccessful, and being on the streets and being a bum. And a second, not to be able -- I want to be a father and I want to be able to provide for my family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: Police are now investigating whether the shooting was gang- related. No one so far is in custody.

PAUL: The widow of a New York man wants prosecutors to take action now that the city's medical examiner has ruled a police chokehold is what killed her husband. Eric Garner's death ruled a homicide now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ESAW GARNER, WIDOW OF ERIC GARNER: I met with the prosecutors. And I feel like I did the right thing by doing that. And I just want them to do the right thing and give justice for my husband.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: The prosecutor's office says it's waiting for Garner's official death certificate and autopsy report to be issued.

And a Pennsylvania man is now charged in his young son's death. The eight-year-old died in the family's home. The police say Jarrod Tutko Sr. only told his wife their son was dead when the odor of decomposition became too strong. She then called the police. The district attorney says the couple's five other children have been placed in protective custody. Bizarre story.

PAUL: Well, tropical storm Bertha has turned away from the U.S. and look what it's doing, dumping rain on Puerto Rico now. Strong winds are lashing that region with the eastern and southern parts of the island expected to get the brunt of it. The most rain and fog. So do take care if you are there.

MARQUEZ: And take a look at this. Horrifying video out of Istanbul, Turkey after a rare tornado, tornado in Turkey, ripped through there yesterday. Weather experts say hot temperatures triggered the twister, flash flooding forced road closures and across the city and left some stores submerged. There's no word yet on injuries or total damages, but forecasters say more heavy rain is expected today. Amazing.

PAUL: Well, it is Sunday, so families are ready for football. Somewhere, right?

MARQUEZ: Somewhere somebody's ready for football. I have no doubt. A real hall of fame match-up tonight and an update on Paul George's horrific injury during a scrimmage. And we want to warn you the video is pretty darn graphic. If you have to watch it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: There's the Ferris wheel. With that Ferris wheel we know we're talking about Atlanta.

MARQUEZ: Atlanta.

PAUL: We'll be talking about Chicago, but we're not on the water, as you can see. In Centennial Olympic Park, beautiful day, pretty low -- here, it's going to be after 80s, 90 -- it is muggy.

MARQUEZ: Yeah.

PAUL: But good morning to you if you're waking up in Atlanta. We are glad that you are waking up.

MARQUEZ: A good muggy morning. After suffering a gruesome injury, who didn't see this, a USA basketball showcase on Friday night, Indiana Pacers star Paul George, that poor guy, he begins his road to recovery at a Las Vegas hospital.

PAUL: Oh, at least, he's in Las Vegas, I guess. Maybe ...

MARQUEZ: Yeah.

PAUL: Can he have fun at the Las Vegas hospital?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. Is that the bonus? Well, you guys are exactly right. It was supposed to be a four quarter scrimmage among basketball's best. But Paul George went down in the fourth quarter before the game was eventually called off. Now, we have edited the footage of the injury but it still may be a bit too graphic for some. Now, after a shot block attempt George suffered a compound fracture of his tibia and fibula on this play here. He was immediately taken to a Las Vegas area hospital for surgery. He's expected to remain in the hospital for three days. Now, his USA teammates were visibly upset and most expressed their support for George via social media, but it was the revered Mike Krzyzewski, the head coach of the national team and the Duke Blue Devils who stopped by to embrace George as he began his road to recovery. And this one, that picture right there might touch even some of the coach K's toughest critics.

And you guys said that we're hours away from the start of the NFL pre- season. The New York Giants and the Buffalo Bills squaring off tonight in the annual Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio. Now, if you want to see these guys, the quarterbacks, Eli Manning and E.G. Manu play, you are going to want to tune in early because the starters for both teams will play just a drive or two in the first quarter. But hay, at least football is back, right?

PAUL: That's right.

MARQUEZ: Thank God for that. Because I have a reason to drink now.

(LAUGHTER)

PAUL: Finally!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, you needed that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you guys.

PAUL: Appreciate it. And thank you for starting your morning with us.

MARQUEZ: We have got much more ahead. The next hour of "NEW DAY" starts now.